This Grandma Strangled a Rabid Bobcat with Her Bare Hands After an Attack

For a woman who has lived in Georgia her entire life – and whose father used to trap bobcats – seeing one of the 40-pound animals out and about wasn’t cause for concern for DeDe Phillips. At least, not at first.

But then things took an unexpected turn.

“The cat took two steps and was on top on me. It came for my face,” she told the Athens Banner-Herald.

Phillips, who had recently fixed a bumper sticker to her car that reads “Women who behave seldom make history” wasn’t going down without a fight, however.

Not only was she not going to die, but Phillips also declined to yell or scream for fear of drawing her 5-year-old granddaughter out of the house and into danger.

Instead, she strangled the animal with her bare hands.

You read that right.

Once the animal was still, she kept her grip on it while she called her son and waited for him to arrive. Once there, he stabbed the animal to make sure it was dead and then DeDe, who had sustained some scratches and bites, drove herself (and the animal) to the hospital for a once-over.

The bobcat was confirmed to be rabid and Dede received a series of rabies shots in addition to treatment for a broken finger and claw wounds. Her lack of health insurance meant she owed over $10,000, but a crowdfunding campaign came to her aid.

Aside from the part where lifesaving shots can cost you an arm and a leg in America, this is one of the best stories I’ve read in quite some time.